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Matt Slabe of Cincinnati, Ohio, has made a verbal commitment to the Yale University class of 2020. Slabe is a senior at St. Xavier High School and a member of their Ohio State Division I Champion swimming and diving team. Slabe contributed to the Bombers’ state title with a pair of fourth-place finishes (200 free, 500 free) and as a member of the 200 free and 400 free relays.
Slabe also swims for Countryside YMCA, with whom he had a stellar long course national meet this past summer. Slabe was an A finalist in the 200m free, 400m free and 1500m free, and he placed 9th in the 800m free. Slabe began primarily as a distance freestyler but has been working on his short game; he now shows strength throughout the entire range of freestyle events. His best times are:
| SCY | LCM | |
| 1650/1500 | 15:54.02 | 16:17.39 |
| 1000/800 | 9:20.07 | 8:31.76 |
| 500/400 | 4:30.53 | 4:05.80 |
| 200 free | 1:39.32 | 1:54.47 |
| 100 free | 46.97 | 55.21 |
| 50 free | 22.16 | 25.56 |
Slabe will fit right in with the Bulldogs’ distance freestyle group, as he would have scored at 2015 Ivy League Men’s Championships in the 1650, 1000, and 200 freestyle events. In addition, one of his Countryside YMCA/ St. Xavier teammates, Ian Wooley, will be a senior at Yale when Slabe arrives in New Haven. Slabe shared with SwimSwam:
“During my official trip to Yale, I felt at home on campus and the team welcomed me right away. The combination of athletic and academic talent I found at Yale was like nowhere else. I couldn’t be more excited to spend the next four years there!”
Slabe’s future classmates will include already-committed Chris Miller and Ryan Huizing.
*DISCLAIMER: Slabe has not yet been officially accepted to Yale. As is true with all Ivy League schools, Yale’s Admission Office will not send its acceptance letter until the beginning of December, along with those of all Early Action candidates. The procedure for a recruited athlete like Slabe is for Admissions to review his transcript and SAT scores, “support his application for admissions in the fall,” issue a Likely Letter, then offer him acceptance into the class of 2020.
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